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More civility, less nudity planned for desert playgrounds, federal officials say
Mobile strip shows, women flashing their breasts and drunken guys riding nude on motorcycles isn't what the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had in mind when it envisioned "multiple uses" for public land.
The agency would like to put a stop to adult-entertainment entrepreneurs who have found a niche at public off-roading meccas in the California desert.
The traveling shows are set up in areas where crowds gather with drinks in hands after a day ripping across sand dunes. They erect strippers poles affixed to truck beds or trailers. They blast music as the women they bring perform adult shows to hoots of approval. Then they hawk merchandise and seek tips from the audience.
BLM officials, who have been cracking down on nudity at the Imperial Sand Dunes -- aka Glamis -- for eight years, plan to expand the nudity ban to all their California desert off-roading areas and developed campsites.
While officials say they have pretty much tamed the Glamis revelries, where as many as 190,000 people gather for Thanksgiving weekends, they are concerned about other areas, including the Dumont Dunes north of Baker in San Bernardino County.
"The public wants, and we want, a family oriented atmosphere," said Lynne Else, environmental coordinator for the BLM's California Desert District, which covers public land from Ridgecrest to the Mexico border.
Glamis gained a reputation for hedonistic revelry in the 1990s as thousands of off-roaders gathered for campouts during long fall and winter weekends.
Beyond the nudity, antics included motorcyclists chasing burning tires down hills after dark, putting explosive aerosol paint cans in campfires and popping wheelies in pits of burning gasoline.
Fred Armbruster, of Hemet, has been visiting Glamis since the 1970s. He described an area known as Oldsmobile Hill as "a Mardi Gras with gasoline."
The partying was depicted in "Glamis Gone Wild" videos, which attracted more people, Armbruster said.
To gain control, the BLM banned nudity at the dunes in 2001 and stepped up law enforcement.
Now, about 100 federal rangers and sheriff's deputies enforce the peace during popular holiday weekends, including Thanksgiving and New Year's, said Kynan Barrios, the chief BLM ranger for the agency's El Centro field office.
During Halloween 2004, he said, he came across a stripper pole on a truck and music blasting as 200 people gathered for the show. Barrios said he told the organizers that women would be cited for nudity if they stripped. They pleaded with Barrios, he said, but he held his ground and the show did not go on -- to the obvious disapproval of the crowd.
Bob Mason, board president of the American Sand Association advocacy organization, said such enforcement "has substantially cleaned up the place."
SHIFT TO NEW AREA
In recent years, however, the Dumont Dunes have gained popularity, attracting as many as 30,000 people on holiday weekends. There is no nudity ban there, said Randy Banis, an off-roader, BLM advisory committee member and resident of Leona Valley near Lancaster.
The mobile strip shows, breast flashing and nude motorcycling have begun appearing, Banis and Else said.
Banis said he is not opposed to people discretely enjoying nature in the nude -- as they do at a few desert springs -- but the off-road-area campsites "are not the appropriate venue."
The proposed rules also would prohibit the burning of scrap wood containing nails and screws. Glass beverage bottles would be banned, too. Glass and nails are hazards that can puncture tires and cause injuries, Else said.
Also, people would not be allowed to ride on handlebars, fenders, pickup beds or other equipment not designed for passengers.
The nudity ban also is about safety, said Dick Holliday, a Rancho Cucamonga resident and BLM advisory committee member.
The strip shows create "a mob mentality" among groups of people who are drinking, Holliday said.
"You get 50 to 100 people gathered around one of these trucks, and somebody bumps into someone else, and then they get into a fight," he said. "It's not the kind of situation you want to have. You want to keep it a family situation."
Mobile strip shows, women flashing their breasts and drunken guys riding nude on motorcycles isn't what the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had in mind when it envisioned "multiple uses" for public land.
The agency would like to put a stop to adult-entertainment entrepreneurs who have found a niche at public off-roading meccas in the California desert.
The traveling shows are set up in areas where crowds gather with drinks in hands after a day ripping across sand dunes. They erect strippers poles affixed to truck beds or trailers. They blast music as the women they bring perform adult shows to hoots of approval. Then they hawk merchandise and seek tips from the audience.
BLM officials, who have been cracking down on nudity at the Imperial Sand Dunes -- aka Glamis -- for eight years, plan to expand the nudity ban to all their California desert off-roading areas and developed campsites.
While officials say they have pretty much tamed the Glamis revelries, where as many as 190,000 people gather for Thanksgiving weekends, they are concerned about other areas, including the Dumont Dunes north of Baker in San Bernardino County.
"The public wants, and we want, a family oriented atmosphere," said Lynne Else, environmental coordinator for the BLM's California Desert District, which covers public land from Ridgecrest to the Mexico border.
Glamis gained a reputation for hedonistic revelry in the 1990s as thousands of off-roaders gathered for campouts during long fall and winter weekends.
Beyond the nudity, antics included motorcyclists chasing burning tires down hills after dark, putting explosive aerosol paint cans in campfires and popping wheelies in pits of burning gasoline.
Fred Armbruster, of Hemet, has been visiting Glamis since the 1970s. He described an area known as Oldsmobile Hill as "a Mardi Gras with gasoline."
The partying was depicted in "Glamis Gone Wild" videos, which attracted more people, Armbruster said.
To gain control, the BLM banned nudity at the dunes in 2001 and stepped up law enforcement.
Now, about 100 federal rangers and sheriff's deputies enforce the peace during popular holiday weekends, including Thanksgiving and New Year's, said Kynan Barrios, the chief BLM ranger for the agency's El Centro field office.
During Halloween 2004, he said, he came across a stripper pole on a truck and music blasting as 200 people gathered for the show. Barrios said he told the organizers that women would be cited for nudity if they stripped. They pleaded with Barrios, he said, but he held his ground and the show did not go on -- to the obvious disapproval of the crowd.
Bob Mason, board president of the American Sand Association advocacy organization, said such enforcement "has substantially cleaned up the place."
SHIFT TO NEW AREA
In recent years, however, the Dumont Dunes have gained popularity, attracting as many as 30,000 people on holiday weekends. There is no nudity ban there, said Randy Banis, an off-roader, BLM advisory committee member and resident of Leona Valley near Lancaster.
The mobile strip shows, breast flashing and nude motorcycling have begun appearing, Banis and Else said.
Banis said he is not opposed to people discretely enjoying nature in the nude -- as they do at a few desert springs -- but the off-road-area campsites "are not the appropriate venue."
The proposed rules also would prohibit the burning of scrap wood containing nails and screws. Glass beverage bottles would be banned, too. Glass and nails are hazards that can puncture tires and cause injuries, Else said.
Also, people would not be allowed to ride on handlebars, fenders, pickup beds or other equipment not designed for passengers.
The nudity ban also is about safety, said Dick Holliday, a Rancho Cucamonga resident and BLM advisory committee member.
The strip shows create "a mob mentality" among groups of people who are drinking, Holliday said.
"You get 50 to 100 people gathered around one of these trucks, and somebody bumps into someone else, and then they get into a fight," he said. "It's not the kind of situation you want to have. You want to keep it a family situation."